CAMP ATTERBURY INDIANA 
Memorial Dedication
15 AUGUST 1992

John D. Bowen, 31st Inf Div

Fellow Veterans, Ladies & Gentlemen.

I bring you greetings from the 31st Infantry Division Veterans Association.

We are honored to participate in this dedication to all the units and veterans who have passed through this post, to defend our country; especially those who made the supreme sacrifice.

The 31st Divisional Patch, two red D's, back to back, on a white disc, that adorn this wall, stands for "Dixie" Division. An apt name for a Division whose Regiments came from Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Louisiana. Although the 31st Divisions history began with its formation as a Division in World War 1, its three Regiments nave a longer history, dating back as far as 1798, when the 155th Regiment, the 7th oldest Regiment in the US Army, was organized as the Adams County Mississippi Militia.

It is ironic that since the "Dixie" Division's founding, the majority of its replacement members have been "Yankees."

The 31st Division was one of- the first Divisions to be mobilized for World War II. Its National Guard units were called to Federal Service in November 1940. It provided thousands of replacements to form other units until it also served overseas for 16 months.

It is fitting that this dedication be held on the 47th Anniversary of V-J Day, a time when the 31st Division was serving in the liberation of the Philippines. They had landed in Mendanao, on 22 Apr 1945, after having served in the campaigns of New Guinea, a year earlier, at Moratai Island and Mapia Island.

It is a particular privilege for me also to be here today, as it is almost 39 years, to the day, in 1953, that I arrived here at Camp Atterbury at the tender age of seventeen to begin my basic training. We New Englanders were assigned to Company H, with the 167th Infantry Regiment, of the "Dixie" Division. When we disembarked on that desolate military airfield nearby, in the boiling sun, (it was about 105 degrees, not like the cold today), I asked myself, "What have I got my self into?" Shortly thereafter I was to learn that our Company Commander, Lt Schrader, had fought across Europe with my brother, in Company H, of the 330th Regiment, of the 83rd Division, until Lt Schrader received a battlefield commission in the Battle of the Bulge.

It was here at Camp Atterbury that they began to mold me, as they had thousands of others before me, into a man. Those were memorable days.

As was earlier mentioned, the 31st Division served at Camp Atterbury starting in 1952, after the 28th Division left for Europe. They were a basic training Division until November of 1953, when it was formed into a T 0 & E Division. It then began Divisional training as a regular Army outfit in the excellent training facilities here at Atterbury. The 31st Division began its move to Fort Carson, Colorado in Feb 1954 resulting in the deactivation of Camp Atterbury in March 1954, as an active Army post. The Division was later returned to inactive status in Alabama.

After Service in three Wars, World War I, World War II, and the Korean period here at Atterbury, we pay tribute to all who have served in the 31st Division and to all those who served in the units with whom we are proud to share this wall.

Thank You.